A deal to ensure at least 40 car parking spaces at the new campus will be free is close to being secured by Corsham Town Council.

It is hoped the draft agreement – part of the £1 sale of Springfield Recreation Ground land, valued at £30,000, by the town council to Wiltshire Council – will ensure all parking at the campus, in Beechfield Road, will be without charge.

The current deal would see 40 of Springfield Campus’s 120 places, being free for a minimum of two hours.

Town clerk David Martin said: “We have said all along that the parking will all probably be free, but at least there will be a guarantee for some already in place.”

During Monday’s Corsham Town Council meeting, councillors expressed a strong desire to see all parking spaces at the campus remain free.

Town councillor Mervyn Jackson said: “I think it will be difficult for the council to put parking charges on the land when we will have 40 spaces reserved for free because of the recreation ground.”

The campus, which will house a library, exhibition and recreation space, meeting rooms and cafe bar, is due for completion in early 2014.

At the Town Hall meeting, members discussed Wiltshire Council’s request to pick two community events where free parking would be allowed.

They struggled to pick two from three big events next year: Paralmypian Stephanie Millward’s freedom of the town on March 2, Corsham Sci-Fi on April 27 and Armed Forces Day on June 29.

Councillor Anne Lock said: “I think we should do an Oliver Twist and ask for an extra one to cover all three.”